The Panthers Mistake

By Azarr Johnson

As week 6 ends and week 7 begins tonight with Aaron Rodgers and the Packers trying top rove to the Packer faithful that they have nothing to worry about as they host a Chicago Bears team, that is in rebuilding stage. A lot of minds are on a lot of the story lines coming out of week 6, like if Romo is ever going to get his starting job back, Beckham performance and emotional celebration during the victory over the Ravens or Buffalo 4 game turnaround since they fired there offensive coordinator and many more. What was one of the most unnoticeable stories from week 6, was the Carolina Panthers whole display of a mess they have made this season. Many would say they noticed it when quarterback Cam Newton showcased, childish and unprofessional behavior the other day after the 41-38 loss to the New Orleans Saints. Even though I agree with most people evaluation of how he conducted himself , after the game, at the press conference, it seems to me that it was a reflection of how much of a mess this franchise is. Normally it is always assumed that this is a cause of a Superbowl hangover, but that is not the case.This mess is caused by the upper management, most noticeably Dave Gettleman the GM,who decided that after the Superbowl loss to I quote “ take care of the needs of the offensive line and the front seven of the defense”, which I don’t know if anybody notice,especially the night of the first game of the season, Cam Newton has been taking way to many hits, which eventually led to him being out for week 5 due to a concussion.

 

The critics say he holds on to the ball to long , but he has always held onto the ball to long,this is nothing new. So clearly what Gettleman suggested he was taking care of, has not been addressed and that’s just half a phony excuse of the poor decisions he made/mess that has resulted in a 1-5 record and 4 game losing streak. The other elephant in the room was letting Josh Norman go, but it wasn’t just him, it was the fact that you did not address your back four at all and replaced them with rookies. What Gettleman failed to realize, that even though you have a system/ defensive scheme that works, you still need players to execute that system. With Norman (all pro), Tillman (one of the best veteran corners), Finnegan (Veteran cover corner) and Roman Harper (veteran super bowl winning safety) all gone, you don’t have anybody in the secondary, with any experience at all. This decision has left them with receivers and offensives having record numbers against them and even resulting in one of the rookies in the secondary to be cut. Gettleman claims the front seven was more important to address, but they have not been able to do anything in the front either, no pass rush, the linebackers are ineffective because they have to help the secondary in coverage. What makes this situation look even more hopeless, is they are in a division where every team has quarterback and a deep weapon and unless Carolina finds someway to stop the bleeding, it is only going to get worse in every way, only time will tell stay tuned!